Peace Corps Journals / El Salvador / all updates

Current news

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 23:02:00 +0800

(El Salvador / El Salvador)
So I was slightly sick again - not really news at this point. It certainly says something when it is relieving to realize that I only had food poisoning and not some other nasty thing inside of my gu ...
3 reads

The One Where Emilie Gets Sick…And Rallies

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 22:53:42 +0800

(El Salvador / ¡Puchica!)
3-8-10 I’ve managed to go my whole first month in the Peace Corps with a pretty clean bill of health but I suffered my first bout of “Salvadoran Sickness” last week. I woke up Thursday mornin ...
6 reads

From the Hammock

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 22:42:36 +0800

(El Salvador / ¡Puchica!)
3-4-10 I’m sitting in my brightly-colored hammock right now slung between – get this – two coconut trees. The breeze is blowing across me gently and the sun is about to dip below the horizon ...
3 reads

Modernity in El Salvador

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 22:41:19 +0800

(El Salvador / ¡Puchica!)
3-3-10 At first glance the cornfield in front of me looks like a scene from a picture entitled “Scenes from the hacienda 1825”. The boy and his grandmother stoop low over the stalks to pluck t ...
4 reads

Why Should We Care About El Salvador?

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 19:54:00 +0800

(El Salvador / Fly to El Salvador)
Sarah Stephens: Why Should We Care About El Salvador?From The Huffington Post
11 reads

Choco Bananas

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 18:38:00 +0800

(El Salvador / Jaime in Peace Corps El Salvador)
Lunch break. And after eating lunch I also decided to go to the street vendors for a Choco Bananas. If there is one thing Salvadorans have perfected its covering a banana in chocolate sesame see spr ...
11 reads

Un Techo Para Mi Pais: Guadalupe House Build

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 16:53:00 +0800

(El Salvador / Going In Peace)
February 27-28th I headed down to Guadalupe a community that was severely affected by the landslides back in November and left 7 000 Salvadorans without homes. A fellow volunteer lives there and invi ...
10 reads

Actively Seeking a Direction

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 05:15:00 +0800

(El Salvador / La Vida: Chelsea)
For the last 18 days of my training here in San Vicente I will be actively pursuing the path that has been set out for me. I am turning a new leaf in my attitude pleading to remember that I am purpo ...
11 reads

La Playa

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 21:48:00 +0800

(El Salvador / Jaime in Peace Corps El Salvador)
We had our Free Overnight weekend this past weekend...and we went to the beach. Costa Del Sol. What a perfect name since we enjoyed the most perfect sunset on the beach. It was beautiful.We had a cute ...
0 reads

The reckoning has in fact come

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 16:28:00 +0800

(El Salvador / Good Morning Salvador)
And I am busier than I have ever been in El Salvador with the aforementioned projects. The environmental camp is coming up this weekend and I'm super excited despite having pretty much no time to pr ...
13 reads

Mac n' Cheese Update

Sat, 06 Mar 2010 17:01:00 +0800

(El Salvador / Fly to El Salvador)
Dear Adam I have decided to write you an open letter to thank you for the shipment of 16 boxes of mac'n cheese you sent me last year. At the time I'll admit I was overwhelmed and thought that there w ...
27 reads

Comida Tipica

Sat, 06 Mar 2010 00:55:00 +0800

(El Salvador / Fly to El Salvador)
I just made AND ate the most wonderful Salvadoran meal- corn tortillas arroz negro avocado egg overeasy and beans. I quite literally slaved over an open fire for hours today to cook them. First m ...
10 reads

Updates from Haiti: 200 Rocket Stoves Di ...

Thu, 04 Mar 2010 19:51:40 +0800

(El Salvador / Sustainable Change That Works)
Our partners in Haiti are currently working to distribute fuel-efficient Rocket stoves to Haitian families who are in dire need of cooking supplies. Carlito Amboise TWP’s representative in Haiti ...
9 reads

Haiti Relief Benefit Raises Over $1 500

Thu, 04 Mar 2010 19:02:39 +0800

(El Salvador / Sustainable Change That Works)
Much gratitude to our friends at SYMBIOTIC PRODUCTIONS and HODI’S HALF NOTE for hosting last week’s benefit concert to help TWP bring fuel-efficient Rocket stoves to victims of the devasta ...
7 reads

Un Techo para mi País – El Salvador

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 05:55:55 +0800

(El Salvador / On the Path of Peace: Fumihiko's Peace Corps Experiences)
This past weekend I went to a town called Guadalupe to build houses for those who lost their homes when IDA hit El Salvador. It was an awesome experience!! We Peace Corps Volunteers worked with an ...
4 reads

photos

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 03:20:00 +0800

(El Salvador / If you choose to venture out the rewards are rich.)
If you want to see photos here is a link...enjoyhttp://www.facebook. com/album.php?aid=2627132&id=100 22432&l=30975d8e75
6 reads

Piropos…

Tue, 02 Mar 2010 18:51:59 +0800

(El Salvador / Just a story...)
Okay if I can just vent for two seconds….so here something called “piropos” or “catcalls” are really common. Blonde-haired blue-eyed girls on the other hand are not. Put ...
9 reads

49th Anniversary of Peace Corps

Tue, 02 Mar 2010 02:32:00 +0800

(El Salvador / Molly Goes to El Salvador)
I discovered this on of my friend's blogs so I thought I would share it with you all. Hillary Rodham ClintonSecretary of StateWashington DCMarch 1 2010Since 1961 the men and women of the Peace Cor ...
3 reads

Immersion Weekend

Tue, 02 Mar 2010 01:46:00 +0800

(El Salvador / Molly Goes to El Salvador)
This past weekend all of us trainees went to go visit volunteers around the country to see what life is like for a volunteer in their respective sites. This was the first experience here in which we ...
21 reads

49th Anniversary of Peace Corps

Mon, 01 Mar 2010 20:57:00 +0800

(El Salvador / If you choose to venture out the rewards are rich.)
Hillary Rodham ClintonSecretary of StateWashington DCMarch 1 2010Since 1961 the men and women of the Peace Corps have carried forward our finest traditions of service and embodied the United States ...
6 reads

Feb 28th

Mon, 01 Mar 2010 20:19:00 +0800

(El Salvador / If you choose to venture out the rewards are rich.)
2/28/10Wow… where do I start? I just got back from spending the weekend in a remote village with a current Peace Corps volunteer named Adam who has been here for about a year. His site was relati ...
7 reads

Immersion Excursion

Mon, 01 Mar 2010 05:33:00 +0800

(El Salvador / La Vida: Chelsea)
Immersion days proved to be the best days of the last 3 excruciating weeks of training. The morale is generally low in training and we are miserable. The three days I just spent in site with a curren ...
5 reads

Untitled

Sun, 28 Feb 2010 21:47:00 +0800

(El Salvador / El Salvador)
So we´ve been really busy the last few days (weeks?) but not particularly doing anything productive. The PST (pre-service training) has been incredibly overwhelmed with mostly pointless information ...
13 reads

The One Where Emilie Meets a Rat…

Sun, 28 Feb 2010 16:24:30 +0800

(El Salvador / ¡Puchica!)
This past weekend was immersion weekend. Essentially the Peace Corps handed us some directions a destination and a volunteer`s name – and the scavenger hunt was on. Just kidding. They ...
5 reads

Things I Miss

Sun, 28 Feb 2010 15:54:02 +0800

(El Salvador / ¡Puchica!)
2-24-10 I love my new home but I have to say I miss some of the creature comforts of the US. I was thinking about it the other day and I came up with a list of things that I miss the most for your enjoyment: 1. Starbucks. For some reason the women at the pupuseria don’t [...]
12 reads

A Visit from the Curandera

Sun, 28 Feb 2010 15:45:53 +0800

(El Salvador / ¡Puchica!)
2-22-10 During our Spanish class today we were visited by a curandera or natural healer. A lot of what they practice is widely believed to be superstition by health professionals (and I can’t say ...
22 reads

San Salvador

Sun, 28 Feb 2010 15:44:37 +0800

(El Salvador / ¡Puchica!)
2-18-10 Today we got our first glimpse at the capital San Salvador. According to our teachers there are two sides of San Salvador roughly divided along a line that runs through MetroCentro their b ...
11 reads

Farewells

Sun, 28 Feb 2010 01:00:00 +0800

(El Salvador / Bruce & Kelly's Peace Corps Journal)
Well. Our Salvadoran adventure has ended prematurely and we are now thrust into a new and exciting chapter of our lives: parenthood! Wow. While back in the States for Christmas we f ...
11 reads

Caiman Fun

Sun, 28 Feb 2010 00:55:00 +0800

(El Salvador / Bruce & Kelly's Peace Corps Journal)
Gerardo beer stickcaimanBruce and some coworkers (Gerardo and Cesar are pictured) finally made good on the promise to hold the caiman kept at a restaurant just outside town.Kelly likes this picture ...
12 reads

Casa de la Cultura

Sat, 27 Feb 2010 22:49:00 +0800

(El Salvador / Bruce & Kelly's Peace Corps Journal)
Bruce plays Train Wreck (the most popular icebreaker) with a kids' English classduring one of our adult English classesOur students wanted to celebrate the end of the year with a piñata!Bruce hates ...
6 reads

Thanksgiving

Sat, 27 Feb 2010 22:33:00 +0800

(El Salvador / Bruce & Kelly's Peace Corps Journal)
We had some of our dearest friends and coworkers over for a Thanksgiving (Día de Acción de Gracias) dinner that couldn't be beat. Turkey mashed potatoes and gravy sweet potatoes cranb ...
8 reads

Ecological Stoves

Sat, 27 Feb 2010 22:14:00 +0800

(El Salvador / Bruce & Kelly's Peace Corps Journal)
We organized an ecological stove project with the NGO Stoveteam International as well as our pueblo's church and mayor's office. The eco stove uses 70% less wood and produces 90% less smoke tha ...
17 reads

Making Tamales

Sat, 27 Feb 2010 21:28:00 +0800

(El Salvador / Bruce & Kelly's Peace Corps Journal)
Some friends had us over to make tamales de elote (corn). It took practically all day but was a good time.snack timeKelly cut corn and I don't care.Bruce grinding corn at the millAna and Kelly ...
1 reads

Site Visit

Sat, 27 Feb 2010 21:25:00 +0800

(El Salvador / Jaime in Peace Corps El Salvador)
Thursday morning I woke up at 5am happily surprised to see the water was back running. That meant putting off bucket baths for another day. Got all my stuff together and was out the door by 6. I cau ...
7 reads

Day of the Dead

Sat, 27 Feb 2010 21:20:00 +0800

(El Salvador / Bruce & Kelly's Peace Corps Journal)
Bruce buys plastic flowers from friends on the Day of the DeadKelly with our host mother (Doña Lydia) at her husband's grave. The rest of this chapter is a collection of random pictures. Here ...
0 reads

Volcano Hike

Sat, 27 Feb 2010 20:58:00 +0800

(El Salvador / Bruce & Kelly's Peace Corps Journal)
A goal of our eco clubs was to raise money and carry out an excursion to a national park at the end of the school year (November). We organized a bus trip from our town to Volcanoes National Par ...
2 reads

Bruce's Birthday

Sat, 27 Feb 2010 20:39:00 +0800

(El Salvador / Bruce & Kelly's Peace Corps Journal)
Kelly and the neighborhood kids threw a "surprise" party for Bruce on his 26th birthday.Brush! Brush! Brush! Brush!Candy!Piñatas make kids crazy!We bought a cake from the ice cream store and put it i ...
0 reads

El Gueguecho

Sat, 27 Feb 2010 20:30:00 +0800

(El Salvador / Bruce & Kelly's Peace Corps Journal)
Our October hike was to El Gueguecho (Adam's Apple) an abrupt hill covered with trees. Here you can see coffee beans preparing for a December harvest.We spotted several butterflies (mariposas) ...
0 reads

Closing In

Fri, 26 Feb 2010 23:35:00 +0800

(El Salvador / Latin proffer)
COS (close of service) conference was held last month the moment when those who intend to extend for a third year declare their offical COS date and those who are finishing their service begin the pr ...
0 reads

Wish list

Fri, 26 Feb 2010 23:24:00 +0800

(El Salvador / gabriel*salvador)
You may have noticed that I recently added a "Wish List" to the right side of the page. If you hadn't check it out. It's just below the photos. Go ahead scroll down. Got it? Good. Now see anyt ...
6 reads

Untitled

Fri, 26 Feb 2010 22:35:00 +0800

(El Salvador / Latin proffer)
Well it has been quite some time since my last entry something which has been bothering me of late and towards which I now attempt to make ammends.The following are just a few digital copyies of jou ...
0 reads

letter received!

Fri, 26 Feb 2010 19:11:00 +0800

(El Salvador / such a tough enchilada)
P.S. Grams just wanted to let you know I received your letter last Friday. Big thanks and I'm looking into how to send one back ;)love you. ~K
6 reads

Santa Ana

Fri, 26 Feb 2010 19:07:00 +0800

(El Salvador / such a tough enchilada)
Immersion Days...I'm in the Santa Ana region (near Guatamala) of El Salvador for a long weekend. I arrived yesterday around noon after waking up at 5am. I had to take 5 different buses ...
3 reads

I'm signed up for my first hike this weekend

Fri, 26 Feb 2010 00:34:00 +0800

(El Salvador / Ryan's Journal)
Things are going well here. I am signed up for my first hike this weekend. to an active volcano. The living here is good in the organization. all the guides take turns cooking for each other wit ...
11 reads

Yo Amo El Salvador Medio Maraton

Thu, 25 Feb 2010 17:32:00 +0800

(El Salvador / Going In Peace)
Peace Corps RunnersLast Sunday I ran a 11k with a group of volunteers in San Salvador. We had a blast and the runners high afterwards was the best! I got 20th place in the women's division and finishe ...
14 reads

Feb. 24th

Thu, 25 Feb 2010 12:07:00 +0800

(El Salvador / If you choose to venture out the rewards are rich.)
Feb. 24th 2010So here we go… now getting close to week 4. Things are starting to become more normal and the shock is wearing down… but definitely not out. We are all more comfortable now.. we kno ...
11 reads

2 Axes to the Face

Thu, 25 Feb 2010 02:11:00 +0800

(El Salvador / Jaime in Peace Corps El Salvador)
I've gotten quite used to my neighbors. Even though they are loud wake up really early and go to the bathroom all over the streets I have learned to love the 10 cows/bulls next door. I was a little ...
6 reads

TREES WATER & PEOPLE WINS UNEP SASAKAWA PRIZE

Wed, 24 Feb 2010 18:18:02 +0800

(El Salvador / Sustainable Change That Works)
Trees Water & People (TWP) has been honored by the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) with the 2009-10 Sasakawa Prize for their work collaborating with local NGOs to distribute fuel-ef ...
4 reads

The Perfect Afternoon

Wed, 24 Feb 2010 16:37:04 +0800

(El Salvador / Embo On The Go)
Yesterday I came home from work mid morning because I had a few things to do and my stomach was all funny feeling. I spent most of the afternoon reading in my hammock until three little boys showed ...
0 reads

It’s been a while…

Wed, 24 Feb 2010 04:03:16 +0800

(El Salvador / On the Path of Peace: Fumihiko's Peace Corps Experiences)
It’s been exactly 3 months since the last post. It is not because I quit the Peace Corps but I was just being too lazy. I had a number of events during the last 3 months though!! After the disastrous week that I wrote about I was sent back to my site for just a week. I [...]
12 reads